vate inquiry agent. Staring all about
the room with a sort of naive wonderment, he drew out a big silk
handkerchief and loudly blew his nose, all the time eyeing Harley
questioningly. Replacing his handkerchief he directed his regard upon
me, and:

"This is my friend, Mr. Knox," said Harley; "you may state your case
before him without hesitation, unless------"

I rose to depart, but:

"Sit down, Mr. Knox! Sit down, sir!" shouted the Major. "I have no dirty
linen to wash, no skeletons in the cupboard or piffle of that kind. I
simply want something explained which I am too thick-headed--too damned
thick-headed, sir--to explain myself."

He resumed his seat, and taking out his wallet extracted from it a small
newspaper cutting which he offered to Harley.

"Read that, Mr. Harley," he directed. "Read it aloud."

Harley read as follows:

"Before Mr. Smith, at Marlborough Street Police Court, John Edward
Bampton was charged with assaulting a well-known clubman in Bond Street
on Wednesday evening. It was proved by the constable who made the
arrest that robbery had not been the motive of the assault, and Bampton
confessed that he bore no grudge against the assailed man, indeed, that
he had never seen him before. He pleaded intoxication, and the police
surgeon testified that although not actually intoxicated, his breath
had smelled strongly of liquor at the time of his arrest. Bampton's
employers testified to a hitherto blameless character, and as the charge
was not pressed the man was dismissed with a caution."

Having read the paragraph, Harley glanced at the Major with a puzzled
expression.

"The point of this quite escapes me," he confessed.

"Is that so?" said Major Ragstaff. "Is that so, sir? Perhaps you will be
good enough to read this."

From his wallet he took a second newspaper cutting, smaller than the
first, and gummed to a sheet of club notepaper. Harley took it and read
as follows:

"Mr. De Lana, a well-known member of the Stock Exchange, who met with a
serious accident recently, is still in a precarious condition."

The puzzled look on Harley's face grew more acute, and the Major watched
him with an expression which I can only describe as one of fierce
enjoyment.

"You're thinkin' I'm a damned old fool, ain't you?" he shouted suddenly.

"Scarcely that," said Harley, smiling slightly, "but the significance of
these paragraphs is not apparent, I must confess. The man Bampton would
not appear to be